Portable refrigerator



Apr. 17, 1923. 451,823 I. M. HAMPTON ET AL PORTABLE REFRIGERATOR Filed April 18, 1922 5 "r; I ta nu MW 344M207? Js aZYFer/Zer j 1 amwma7wz,

Patented Apr. l7, 11923 sraras lhddhtad ISAAG M. HAMPTON, JOSEPH T. DECKER, AND LOUIS J. DECKER, OF HARTFORD,

ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE REFRIGERATOR.

Application filed April 18, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ISAAC M. HAMPTON, Josnrn T. DECKER, and Louis J. DECKER, citizens of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Refrigerators, of which the following is a speci fication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention has for its purpose the provision of adevice of this kind especially adapted for preserving various perishable articles or commodities. for instance such as chocolate, marshmallow, candies of all kinds, ice cream bars and etc. The present device may be used at various places, such as resorts, ball parks, theaters, or on trains, in fact in all places of amusement, and elsewhere, where people gather, and at such places it may be used for keeping perishable goods.

The device may also be used in stores of all kinds, and may be placed upon the counters, which will save the clerk time and labor from going from one counter to another. Also, drummers may use the device as a travelling case, to also preserve perishable goods, such as butter, etc., and in fact may be used in places where ice is not available.

Another purpose is the provision of a portable refrigerator, wherein storage containers for the various perishable articles are mounted within a casing. and so arranged therein. that ice containers can be arranged in order to allow the cold air to pass around the articlestorage containers, In fact the article and ice containers are so arranged. in the casing as to provide an air space surrounding the containers completely, in order to permit a thorough circulation of cold air, to pene trate all parts of the interior of the casing.

Still another purpose is the provision of article containers having perforated sides, top and botom, so as to permit of a complete circulation of air on the interior of such containers, said containers having shelves for the support of perforated article a es eve Serial No. 555,432.

A further purpose is to provide means on the interior of the casing, just above the article containers, for the support of ice storage containers above the article containers, and since an additional container is arranged centrally between the article containers, cold air from the ice keeps the entire inner space of the casing cool.

A further purpose is the provision of a casing for these various containers, having a double wall, packed with the usual material, such as will prevent the loss of the cold air on the interior of the casing.

A still further purpose is the provision of means for carrying the casing from one place to another. A suitable top or cover is provided to permit of the removal of the ice containers. This top or cover is mounted upon spring hinges, the purpose of which being to enable the cover to automatically close, there being suitable snap fasteners to hold the cover closed. Bythis arrangement the covers areprevented from standing open. Furthermore it is the aim to provide doors on the front of the casing or refrigerator to permit access to the article containers, and to enable them to be removed. These doors also have spring hinges and snap fasteners to prevent them from standing open.

It is to be understood that the particulars herein given are in no way limitative and that while still keeping within the scope of the invention, any desired modifications of detail and desired proportions may be made in the apparatus according to circumstances.

The invention comprises further features and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the improved portable refrigerator constructed in accordance with the invention, showing the cover and one of the front doors open;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through one-half of the refrigerator, showing the arrangement of the various article and ice containers;

g r 3. is a sectional v e n line 3- of Figured;

Figure 4 is a plan view;

Figure 5 is a detail sectional View of the automatic fasteners or snaps 20;

Figure 6 is a detail View of the spring hinge 19;

Figure 7 is a detail sectional view of the automatic snap fasteners P;

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view showing the snap fastener 15 Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the casing of the refrigerator, which may be constructed of any suitable material, preferably paper fibre or other material on the exterior including a sheet aluminum lining 2 on the interior of the wall of the casing, and asuitable packing 3, whichwill act to retain thecold air on the interior of the casing. A cover a is mounted upon the refrigerator or casing by means ofspring. hinges 45, and since suitable snaps or other automatic farteners P are provided upon the cover, it will automatically close and snap in closed positions, in order to prevent them from standing open. A handle 6 of conventional construction is hingedly mounted at 7 on the cover, whereby the refrigerator is portable from one place to another.

Arranged on the interior of the casing and resting upon the bottom thereof is a corrugated sheet aluminum support and spacing member 8, for suppor ing and spacing the article containers 9 above the surface of th bottom, to insure the passage of air below the containers. Connected to the end walls of the casing and arranged immediately over the top wall of each article container is a supporting and spacing member 10. Each spacing and supporting member lO is constructed of-corrugated sheet aluminum and one edge, of this supporting and spacing member has an upturned flange 11.

The bottom spacing and supporting member 8 is bent upon itself to provide spaced upstanding flanges 12, which act to hold the article containers adjacent the ends of the casing. in fact prevent them from creeping toward each other.

The casing carries a plurality of ice storage containers 13 and 14-. The ice-container 13 is arranged centrally of the casing and is-held in such position by means of the upstanding spaced flanges'lQ of the bottom supporting and spacing member 8. The flanges 12 prevent the central ice container rom creeping toward the article containers. The ice containers 14-. have spring hinged covers 15, which when closed have an air-tight joint with the sides of the container, thereby keeping out the warm air, when the cover of the casing is open. The spring hinges-of the covers 15, together with snaps or other automatic fasteners 15*, enable the covers to-aw tomatica'lly close, and prevent them fr in standing open. The cold air from thev'arious ice containers enters the interio'r'of'the casing, and around the article containers. The containers 1% are su ported upon the corrugated supports 10. bviously the supports 8 and 10 are corrugated in order to permit of air below the article containers and the central ice container, and under the upper end ice containers 14-.

The article containers are rectangular, and their sides, rear and bottom walls are perforated, as shown at 16, to permit of the passage of cold air to the interior of the article containers. Carried by and secured to the side walls of each article container 9 are supporting flanges or shelves 17, which support the various trays 18. The article conainers and the trays may be constructed of any suitable material, preferably sheet aluminum or the like. The corrugated spacing and supporting members 8 and 10 may be enameled, to prevent corrosion. In fact the entire interior surface wall of the casing may be enameled. it is to be understood that the refrigerator may be any size or propor tion, and the various containers, especially the article containers may be increased 01 decreased in numbers. Furthermore any number of trays as may be found convenient may be supported on the interior of the ar ticle containers, it depending entirely upon the kind of merchandise to be preserved. Due to the trays being perforated, the cold air is permitted to enter the interior of the casing, and through the various trays and containers, excepting the ice containers.

The front of the casing or refrigerator is provided with a pair of doors 19, which are mounted upon spring hinges 19 and are provided with automatic fasteners or snaps 20, so that when the doors 19 are once open and are then released, they will automatically close, and thereby prevent an operator or one carrying the refrigerator from leaving the doors open. Furthermore, by means of the spring hinges for the doors 19 and the snap fasteners 20, the refrigerator may be very'easily carried from one place to another withoutany inconvenience. Obviously by opening the doors access may be had to the interior of the containers 9, for the purpose of-removing the trays with the various articles therein. In fact the containers 9 may be removed through theopenings which. are closed by the doors 19.

It is the aim to construct the outer casing or wall of the refrigerator of any suitable material, such as papcrfibre or the li lre,while the interior wall is designed to be constructed of any suitable light metal, such as aluminum, and in view of the fact that the various containersand all other metal parts are to be constructed ofaluminuni, the refrigerator may be easily and very conveniently carried. It is well known that paper fibre maybe thinner-than wood, and yetit isjust as durable, therefore the refrigeratonasan article carrier is practical, in view of the fact that it is not excessively heavy. Foldable legs 22 are pivotally mounted or otherwise arranged at 21 on the bottom of the refrigerator. These legs are capable 01. folding against the bottom of the refrigerator, and are protected, when so folded, by the marginal flange at the base portion of the body of the refrigerator.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed is 1. A portable refrigerator, comprising a casing provided with upper and lower compartments at each end and having a central compartment, an ice container arranged in the central compartment the full height of the casing, ice containers in the upper compartments, article containers in the lower compartments, corrugated supports forming the bottoms of the upper end compartments to spacedly support the upper ice containers above the article containers to allow the cold air to descend more readily from the ice containers upon said article containers, corrugated plates resting upon the bottom of the casing, one under each article container and one under the central ice container for spacing said containers above the bottom of the casing, the adjacent ends of the plates at the bottom of the casing having upstanding flanges to separate the ice and article containers to permit of circulation of cold air between them and to prevent displacement of said containers, the sides, bottoms and tops of the article containers being perforated, which together with the corrugations of the plates at the bottom permit of the circulation of cold air.

2. In a portable relc rigerator, comprising a casing provided with end compartments and having a central compartment, plates provided with corrugations resting upon the bottoms of the end compartments and upon the bottom of the central compartment, the remote ends of the plates in the end compartments and the adjacent ends of said plates having upstanding flanges, an article container in each end compartment resting upon the corrugations and engaging between the upstanding ilanges of the ends of the plates in theend compartments, thereby preventing movement of said article containers, an ice container resting upon the corrugations of the central plate and engaging between its flanges, thereby preventing displacement of the ice container and holding it spaced from the article containers.

In testimony whereof we hereunto afiix our signatures.

ISAAC M. HAMPTON. JCSEPH T. DECKER. LOUIS J. DECKER. 

